Hykiem Coney walked away from gang life earlier this year, but the violence followed.

The former Long Island Bloods gang leader was clinging to life in a Nassau County hospital yesterday after being shot in the head as he left a Hempstead bar early Saturday morning.

Police said yesterday that Coney, 24, of Roosevelt, was with a group of friends outside the Images nightclub at 4:10 a.m. in Hempstead when an altercation broke out. Several rounds were fired from one or more shooters and he was struck in the head.

Cops said that Coney may not have been the intended target. The fight remains under investigation.

As his friends and family continue to hold vigil by his bedside, Coney remains in grave condition at the Nassau University Medical Center with serious head trauma.

From the age of 15, Coney immersed himself in Hempstead’s violent gang culture and would eventually lead a group known as the Outlaws, an offshoot of the notorious Bloods gang.

For nearly a decade, he lived in a world of violence, drugs and repeated brushes with the law.

He was imprisoned for a total of five years over the period and suffered several assaults, including a shooting at age 17.

But his metamorphosis began after he listened to a sermon delivered at the funeral of a fellow gang member and friend.

Bishop J. Raymond Mackey of the Tabernacle of Joy Church in Roosevelt, who would become his surrogate father, convinced him not to retaliate against a rival gang for the murder.

“He just chose to listen,” a heartbroken Mackey said yesterday after delivering a solemn Sunday sermon.

“He wanted to do the right thing and live a better life.

I never gave up on him.” Gradually, Coney would shift his allegiance from the Outlaws to his fellow parishioners at the church.

He began to speak at schools, warning students to avoid gang life.

Last week, during an event at Hempstead High School, several students were being unruly as Coney began to speak, Mackey said.

“By the time he finished his presentation, you could hear a pin drop,” he said. “They could relate to him.”